With the final season of FRINGE upon us, it was time for the cast and crew to great a massive crowd in Hall H at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. As a special treat? Observer hats. Thousands, and thousands of Observer hats. On the panel were cast members Anna Torv, Lance Reddick, John Noble, Joshua Jackson, Jasika Nicole, and Executive Producer J.H. Wyman.

To kick things off, they showed a trailer for the upcoming season, featuring episodes from the future flung episode last season... And clips from the upcoming season! That included Olivia talking with Peter about their daughter Henrietta, Walter saying he knows how to stop the Observer invasion, and Peter saying, “I think it’s time we created a few Fringe events of our own.” So looks like this season will be all about stopping the Observer invasion, as promised... Though unclear whether it’s in the future, or the past.

...Until Wyman confirmed that the season starts off right after the end of the future set episode. The trailer, in fact, featured new scenes specifically shot for the clip reel, as they aren’t in production yet. The reel was put together to show the network what a fifth season would be like. And it worked!

Talking about the ending of the show, Wyman said, “I had about two and a half versions of what I wanted to do for the end, and a few months ago, I decided on one.” Though he doesn’t usually tell the cast what will happen in the seasons enders, here, he gave them the whole rundown. “Just as you guys want the show to end well, we want the show to end well, and we want to do the best job to give you guys what you want,” said Jackson.

Wyman then teased that there will be a book released based on September’s journal - the rogue Observer who has run throughout the series. They’ll be running a contest for fans, who can have their names put in the book as “Persons of Interest” to September.

Turning to the cast, the moderator chatted with Nicole first, who was surprised she even made it alive to the fifth season. “I thought, it’s okay if I die, this is my first show!” Then turning to Lance Reddick, they chatted briefly about how he’s way nicer than people expect. And then Nicole told a story about how Reddick thought he could go in disguise at Comic-Con by wearing a Breaking Bad hat. “People are going to think I’m a fan,” Nicole said, in a hilarious, deep Reddick voice. And of course, he was immediately swarmed by fans, while Nicole walked past him, sarcastically waving hello.

The moderator asked Torv what the greatest lesson Olive has taught her, and after a long pause where she was clearly thrown, she said, “When you called me Olive, my heart melted, it’s like my mum calling me Anna.” She then thought for a bit, saying, “It’s to come, I think it’s to come,” followed by laughter from the panel, and the crowd, as Torv slowly realized what she said. “I think that’s what Olivia needs, actually,” Torv joked after laughter died down, with the moderator noting that they would now need an age restriction to watch this panel.

When asked what he had learned from Walter, Noble joked, “To come to work every day.” After laughter died down, he said, “We’ve learned the power of love in this story. For all of the characters, they’ve developed genuine love. For all of the science fiction, that love factor is going, and will give us a brilliant final chapter.”

On whether Peter and Olivia will ever get a happy ending, Jackson said, "I think that these two will get the final chapter of their story." "I concur," joked Torv back.

Unfortunately we had to run off before the end of the panel to make a fancy appointment with the Doctor Who cast, but believe us, we’ll have every single bit of FRINGE news throughout this abbreviated season as it breaks, right here on MTV Geek.